Show Reviews

This was a decent recording for the time period, although boomy because of the barn building. This is also important for the archives if this is in fact the first known Golgi, and Wilson and the first time I've heard Mike sing Possum this year. There may have been others before this gig, but alas we do not have setlists or recordings as proof, this being the first school year with out Jeff. Sally is nice and funky and you can hear Marley, I'm assuming, barking on the recording before a jammy Makisupa, which is strangely similar to versions I would hear twelve years later. Trey was already messing with delay pedals and such. It is a nice clean sound without a second guitar.

Golgi is played for the first time here and is surprisingly complete, though a little rough edged.

Slave is complete at this point. A nice rendition.

Love this Wilson! Out of the box and it is not only well formed, but a great jazzy jam as well. This is worth the listen alone. It is honestly better than the one I saw at Pine Knob.

Halley's is not marked here as a first, but it is the earliest one that I can find to listen to. I'm a huge fan of this song and hearing this early version is quite a treat. The harmonies are already worked out to a great extent. And while this is no Hampton 97, the little jam that closes it out is really well played. Nice!

Segue to Possum... the first Possum to sound even slightly like the modern version. The entire gait of the song has morphed into the rocking beat we are used to, instead of that angular loping sound of the prior versions. And the vocal harmonies are now in line with what we expect. Welcome to the party, Possum... this jam rocks!

The 2nd Sneakin' Sally to make it to tape is really well done. You can hear the precursor of the funk sound here... particularly Trey & Mike. All we need is for Page to hone his funk chops (give it a decade or so). This version sounds very Little Feat-ish (yes... I certainly know).

And... Makisupa is still as silly as ever. But it is well played... plenty of reggae to go around.

Love this show! Recording is solid and this one is attached to my permanent rotation.

First Golgi and it's not quite up to tempo yet, but performed fairly well. Slave is alright. That jam out of Halley's to Possum is pretty sweet. Marley really does make this one of the coolest Sneakin' Sally vocal jams. I dig the Makisupa. I kind of agree with the 2.5 stars, and with the current 2 ratings that's exactly what we have, but I feel like I can't NOT log my rating, (c'mon we really need those half stars!) so, in light of the debut performances of Golgi and Wilson, the fact that the recording is MUCH better quality than other pre 88 recordings I've heard, the Marley "banter", and the tasty Makisupa, I'm gonna put up another 3 star rating.

Interesting intro on this first-known version of Golgi. Slave and Possum don't have very interesting jams, but the highlights here I'd say would be a decent jam out of Halley's and into Possum, and a long Makisupa with some tasty Cactus. Oh, and Marley joining in on the Sneakin' Sally vocal jam I'd probably call this 2 1/2 stars, so I'll lean towards the high end and go 3.

P.S. What's with the Wilson vocals during this time period? Was Errand Wolfe originally conceived of as Bob Dylan?

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